Friday, 3 February 2012

The Kickstarter project for Killshot has been going phenomenally well, more than I had hoped. When I made the decision to use Kickstarter, it was done with what I believe to be realistic expectations, meaning I expected it to fail. Not horribly, exploding in a ball of fire, but that I wouldn't quite hit the mark. Today is only the 9th day and it's already at 43% of its goal. Not only could Killshot goal of obtaining original artwork come to life, but could exceed expectations on my very first time out.

Today's post is in response to a request by a backer calling himself a "sucker for character sheets." Far be it from me to show off something I'm rather proud of because I like to consider myself a character sheet junkie. I make a point of downloading multiple versions of character sheets, including official releases to homemade fillable forms to building my own to suit my own playing style.

A good character sheet can not only enhance a game for players, it can define it. Particularly in a game with some level of complexity and variable character builds. What you'll see here is still a work-in-progress (much like Killshot itself) but the changes currently slated for this sheet are repositioning only. And whatever else needs changing due to rule revisions. And considering how well things are going, I'll likely bump up the graphics on the sheet.

Monday, 30 January 2012

Yesterday's D&D game wrapped up a little early (only because the DM figured we couldn't possibly complete the massive encounter he had in store for us with only 2 hours of game time left), so we did what all 40-year old gamers do: we talked mechanics. As you can imagine, we talked about the next version of D&D.

Each of us took turns reminiscing our favorite editions, moments, and characters, reflecting back on the changes over the years and any optimism or pessimism each had for the future of the game. What struck me as odd was how everyone talked about individual characters and not about the team dynamic. "Fighters are designed to swing a sword or an axe, not use powers." "My mage used to do this..." "It was so hard to play a 1st-level character because you'd die with just one hit." All of these statement reflected how every individual piece of the puzzle - the characters - worked within the game. Yet the game is built around the concept of an entire party of heroes defeating evil... so why isn't there enough team mechanics in most RPGs?